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Which factors contribute to calorie burn?

Several factors contribute to how quickly you burn calories. These include:

Age: As you age, the number of calories you burn at rest typically decreases. This is because people tend to lose muscle mass as they age, and muscle burns more calories than fat.

Sex: Men and women burn calories at different rates because, on average, men have more muscle mass than women, while women have more fat mass than men. Muscle burns more calories than fat.

Activity intensity: The more intense an activity, the more calories you burn.

Weight: People who weigh more burn more calories. For example, if a person who weighs 210 pounds and a person who weighs 120 pounds each spend 30 minutes jogging at the same pace, the person who weighs 210 pounds will burn more calories.

Body composition: Muscles require more energy than fat to maintain. People with more muscle burn more calories.

How can you tell how many calories your body burns at rest?

Did you know there¡¯s a measurement used to estimate how many calories your body burns at rest for the entire day? It is called resting energy expenditure.

It considers factors, including your:

• Sex
• Weight
• Height
• Age
• Activity level

Understanding how many calories your body uses without exercise or movement can be a helpful way to determine your body¡¯s caloric needs. This is especially true because usually your body¡¯s resting energy expenditure decreases as you age.

RELATED: How many calories should I eat a day?

If you¡¯d like to find your resting energy expenditure, search for an online calculator that uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation.

How do you know how many calories you¡¯ve burned during exercise?

One of the easiest ways to estimate how many calories you¡¯ve burned during exercise is by using an activity tracker or app. Most activity trackers use a heart rate monitor. Your heart rate indicates how much effort it takes for you to do a certain activity, and that effort determines how many calories you burn. Accuracy can vary from product to product.

Estimated calorie burn for common activities

The list below provides an estimate of how many calories a 185-pound adult would burn per half-hour of a certain activity. This can help you get a general idea of caloric burn for certain activities. Remember, these numbers are based on weight: the more a person weighs, the more calories they will burn.

Aerobics: 306 calories

Bicycling, easy pace: 180 calories

Body weight resistance exercises, high intensity: 273 calories

Elliptical, moderate effort: 210 calories

Jumping rope, moderate pace: 495 calories

Running, 5 mph: 357 calories

Swimming laps, freestyle, recreational: 243 calories

Tai chi: 138 calories

Walking, 2.8-3.4 mph: 159 calories

Water aerobics: 222 calories

Yoga, vinyasa: 113 calories

Traditional exercise isn¡¯t the only way the body burns calories. All of your daily activities ¨C even things like tidying up, cooking and vacuuming ¨C add up. Here¡¯s a few examples of common day-to-day activities and how many calories a 185-pound adult would burn doing each for a half-hour.

Cleaning, moderate effort: 138 calories

Climbing stairs: 285 calories

Cooking, moderate effort: 147 calories

Dusting: 105 calories

Organizing a room: 201 calories

Vacuuming: 126 calories

This information was compiled using the  and its .

Which helps you lose more weight: diet or exercise?

Diet. Cutting calories and eating healthy will help you lose weight. Exercise alone probably won¡¯t help you lose weight, but it will help you keep the weight off.

To lose one pound a week, aim for a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day. Do this by reducing the calories you eat and increasing the calories you burn through physical activity. This adds up to 3,500 calories per week, the number of calories in about one pound of fat.

Focus on choosing healthy foods. This may look like filling two-thirds of your plate with whole grains, vegetables, fruits, beans and seeds. The remaining one-third can be lean animal protein or plant-based protein.

How much activity do I need to do?

To lower your cancer risk, aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week. Additionally, do strength-building exercises two days per week to help increase your muscle mass; this helps you burn more calories.

MD Anderson¡¯s Physical Activity website can help you get started with resources like a weekly exercise plan and tips for adding more activity to your routine.

 or call 1-877-632-6789.